Interview: nostalgic, hip illustrator Owen Davey
A few weeks ago I found Foxly’s Feast in the picture book section at our local library. Intrigued by the textured illustrations and tasteful colour scheme, I decided to look up its creator. Wow…! Writer/illustrator Owen Davey is a recent graduate – and a mere 24 years old. He’s created two picture books so far, is working on a third, and – since graduating from University College Falmouth (UK) – has received a steady stream of illustration commissions from clients including The Guardian, Jamie Oliver and Orange.
Along with Brighton University, University College Falmouth has a reputation for producing sought-after illustration graduates. However, while Foxly’s Feast has gorgeous illustration it also features striking composition, strong narrative flow and a satisfying storyline. My four-year-old loved it too.
Spread from 'Foxly's Feast'
Foxly’s Feast won in the category of ‘most promising new talent’ in Junior Magazine’s Junior Design Awards (don’t be fooled by all the ‘juniors’ in there – it’s a pretty prestigious award) and was highly commended by the MacMillan Children’s Book Prize 2009. I wanted to know Owen’s secret so I contacted him with a few questions, which he cheerfully answers below:
It’s amazing that you’ve completed two kids books already! Are you planning more?
Well I’m working on my third book with Templar as we speak, and I have hundreds of ideas for more books floating about in my head. Whether any of them see the light of day, who knows, but there are ‘plans’ for sure.
How did you come up with the idea for Foxly’s Feast, and how did you pitch it to publishers?
To be honest, I don’t know where the first idea for Foxly’s Feast came from. I think I came up with a list of animals I thought were cool, and then it developed from there. Apparently, my dad has a story I wrote when I was younger that shows a possible origin for Foxly, but not having seen it yet, I can’t verify his claim.
The general theme of the book was always to get people to question their own assumptions, hence the twist in the book. In fact, in the UK the book is entirely wordless – so that I avoid steering people too much with my wording. [The UK version is wordless, but the Australian Publisher (Hardie Grant) wanted words for the Australian market.] People make up their own story, and subsequently, their own presumptions. It’s a sort of ‘never judge a book by the cover’ moral.
I pitched the book to several publishers but Templar were the only publishers willing to take a risk on a fresh-faced graduate with a wordless narrative kids book. I had a meeting with the Art Director, Mike Jolley (a wonderful man), and showed him a dummy book with around six final images in it, and he loved it.
Spread from 'Foxly's Feast'
How long did the book take from start to finish?
Well, I began the book at the beginning of my third year of Uni. In fact it was my first project after the summer. I had spent an entire family holiday scribbling ideas about it in a sketchbook, and delved straight into a month-long project on it. By the end of that month, I had created a 32 page dummy book with six final double page spreads and a prospective cover (later changed).
Around a year later, I met with publishers and signed a book deal with Templar. I then spent maybe another month or two on the book until it was fully sorted. Then a year later again, the book was published. So technically the book took just over two years to complete, but in actual fact, it was only a couple of months.
I’m wondering about your process (for Foxly’s Feast) and guessing that you sketch the line and textures by hand and then scan and edit in Photoshop? Do you find yourself doing most of your work in PhotoShop?
Yep, you got it. I colour everything digitally. The main reason I began colouring things digitally was due to the ease in which a colour can be changed. I found that when working as a Freelance Illustrator, this is a very useful flexibility. Clients can be awkward after all, and changing something digitally is considerably easier than repainting a canvas. Photoshop also has the advantage of speed. If I work quickly at a project, I stay inspired and excited….if it drags on, the spark can dwindle.
The vegetarian message in Foxly’s Feast – something close to your heart?
Nope. Hehe. I love meat. The vegetarian message was a byproduct really. My girlfriend is veggie and I often eat vegetarian meals, but at the end of the day I like to eat meat. I do, however, try and find local, free range produce.
I haven’t seen Knight Night printed, but it looks gorgeous online. Can you tell us a bit about how this book came about?
Well I basically wanted to do something completely removed from Foxly (after all, Foxly was two years old by completion) and thought that something about childhood rather than animals might be the way to go. And then I thought about one of the main points of a children’s book and came to the conclusion of SLEEP!
I felt that there was room for a book about the actual process of getting ready for bed, and looked back at my own childhood for inspiration. I would regularly pretend that the furniture was ‘land’ and the carpet was a ‘crocodile infested swamp’. This was my starting point, and the adventure was born.
Spread from 'Knight Night'
How do you feel about creating a book versus creating editorial illustration? Are you hoping to balance one with the other?
I do. I’m never working on one project at a time. I usually have two or three on the go at one time. I actually have ten in my ‘Current Projects’ folder at the moment hehe. I do editorial, narrative, advertising, branding, album artwork; anything that’s going really. And I love the contrast. With an editorial piece you are forced into drawing things you never thought you’d ever have to draw, and you have to do it in a couple of days. With a book, it’s almost completely your own and you get to nurture it from conception to publishing. It’s an entirely different process and I love them both equally.
Spread from 'Knight Night'
Have you been approached to illustrate someone else’s picture book text? Would you be happy to do it?
Yeah I was but it didn’t work out. There aren’t many publishers like Templar in the world. The other client tried to push my work in certain directions until it just didn’t work for anybody involved. However, I’m not put off by illustrating somebody else’s story in the slightest; I’d love to do it with the right publisher one day.
Does it make you feel good to know that your book is on prominent display in a city library on the other side of the world?
I didn’t know it was but yeah, that’s ace!
Owen's great illustrations for BBC History
Are you getting a decent and steady income from your books?
Not from my books, no. They work on an advance payment system, so you get it in three lump sums until it’s sold an equivalent amount to your advance. It just means I have to be careful with my money instead. It’s quite good money but I probably earn more from my other work.
Your colour palette and aesthetic seems to be inspired by design work from the 50s to 70s? What would YOU cite as your inspiration?
Exactly that really. Although I’d knock it back a couple of decades. I’m sad that I’ve missed out on the abundance of beautiful packaging and poster design from that era. But technology has provided the answer through the Internet and Twitter. I have a world of inspirational illustration and design work at the touch of a button. And I can always look at old photos.
What would your favourite children’s books be?
Tough, tough question. Shaun Tan’s books are genius (as I’m sure you’re aware, given he’s an Australian). Let’s just say anything by him.
Finally, you must have a huge amount of work on at the moment – especially as you’re now regularly illustrating the Orange Feed website. On your site you say you don’t drink alcohol. (Hmm. maybe that’s where I’m going wrong…) Do you think abstinence is key to success?!
No. Not at all. It’s the key to having a bit more money spare maybe. Although I have my weaknesses….sweet treats and films are my main drain of income. I have no issue with drinking whatsoever; I just never got around to it.
Thank you so much Owen! I’m really inspired right now by your passion and commitment to your art.
You can check out Owen’s work on his site, and see his online illustrations on the Orange Feed and you can learn how to draw a cool fox like Foxly here.
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Sketchbook on Flickr
